Emma Lieber

Standard Lit Hum. 3 papers. 1 Midterm. 1 Final.

Professor Lieber was an interesting professor for Literature Humanities Semester I. In my opinion, she is not as "excellent" as previous commenters say, but she was also not terrible. First, Professor Lieber is a very nice woman. She is a caring person and encourages everyone to meet with her before papers. She conducts discussions with moderate, but lacking skill. Despite her attempts, there were still very many awkward gaps during our discussions. Our class was at 9 AM and I think she needs to take greater initiative to get her students to think more critically during discussion. In my opinion, Professor Lieber didn't really contribute anything significant to my understanding of the literature. She allows students to discuss any topic, even if that includes the morality of having sex with one's mother (yes someone was arguing that such is not a bad thing). Professor Lieber could greatly enhance her class by incorporating a smaller lecture component in each discussion. Of course after taking one semester with her, I'm not sure if she has ANY real knowledge about these texts. In one meeting wit her, she told me that she did not "remember" the specific passage from which I decided to write my paper. I wanted to tell her: "HELLO you assigned the reading so you should at least remember the details of this scenario". I then received a B on that paper. I find it ironic that she fin…

You should probably disregard the review below me, it's unnecessarily harsh, and sounds more like a personal vendetta than a constructive review. This review is for Emma's Lit and Revolution class in Slavic Studies. 1. Emma Lieber is an unbelievably caring person. If you put in the time and effort into her class, you'll get out of it exactly what you want--strong discussions, a venue for your ideas, and a spring board for higher engagement with the text. 2. She is a "harsh grader" by Columbia's standards in that she doesn't inflate your grade. So while the person below me believes that their High School English teacher would have given them an A+ on their paper, Emma is not going to fluff you up, and isn't going to to give you a grade your paper doesn't deserve. If you can't write the paper grammatically and structurally at a college level, even if you have a stellar argument, then you're not going to get that A- you so desperately wanted to coast on. That said, Emma is ALWAYS available to meet up with you, even if it's outside her office hours. She gives great feedback, and wants to help you write the best paper you can write. Again, if you put in the time and effort, you have an amazing resource in Emma Lieber. 3. I agree, however, that discussions in class can be led by students a little too much at times, but that's her style, and it has it's own pros and cons. In our Lit…

If you get Emma Lieber as your LitHum professor, you have been very lucky. She has made LitHum one of my favourite classes this year, simply because she is so lovely. Not only is she willing to listen and facilitate student-led discussions, but she also contributes revelatory points that prevent class from becoming a free-for-all. She is a fan of crazy, abstract diagrams, but these incomprehensible drawings always denote some profound structural or thematic idea. If you follow what she says, you'll reach a new understanding of the books. Emma really values what each student has to say, and will summarise each person's contribution to make ideas clearer for the class. She regularly invites students to start the discussion by pointing out what they found interesting, and this has led to some great conversations over the course of the year. She is passionate about the class and all the texts (especially Dostoyevsky) and genuinely cares for her students. She is one of the few professors I would consider talking to if I was finding things difficult, and it is the free environment of her classroom that engenders that. The work load is standard LitHum and she will meet with everyone before papers. There are minimal reading responses due the night before each class, which can be as detailed or short as you like. She can also be convinced to alter due dates if she deems it necessary. M…

Approx. 3 essays, 1 midterm, 1 coursewide final, moderate readings, short response due by email before every class

Emma Lieber is a wonderful grad student and Lit Hum teacher. She focuses on the students, and what we find interesting and captivating about the books we read. Though she doesn't leave it all up to us - she always has her own ideas and thoughts to share with the class that get developed through further discussion. She finds a great balance between thoughtful discussion and having fun as well! Emma's not a lecturer, her class thrives on the discussions that she initiates and that the students continue, which works out to be an amazing experience. She's excellent at grading papers and giving constructive feedback, and she's also always available and willing to help with essays. My writing has certainly improved because of her help and feedback. If you get Emma as your Lit Hum teacher, consider yourself lucky! She's a wonderful person and a wonderful teacher!

3 essays, reasonably graded. Midterm, which was essentially a shorter final, was helpful for preparing for the final. You have to submit a short reading response every night. Normal LitHum reading, nothing dropped, nothing added.

Emma Lieber was a great person to have as a LitHum professor. Vibrant and interesting, she led interesting discussions, which let the class develop its own ideas. She provided great background information on each of the works, and let us develop the discussion, so that we could discuss the issues that we found the most interesting, not just what she though deserved to be talked about. Her interjections into the discussion were always helpful and constructive, and brought up new points that the class had not come up with yet. If you are looking for a class in which you are going to have knowledge forced down your throat, this is not it; Emma lets the students do the talking, and discuss issues ranging from Platonic Forms in The Symposium to phallic images in Lysistrata. Overall, a fun, fascinating LitHum class!